OUT OF AFRICA AND BACK

  

THANKSGIVING IN CONGO

TIME TO LENGTHEN OUR TENT CORDS 

                                      BY BRINGING THE GOSPEL TO RWANDA

 

(Did you know Rwanda's official language is English!) 

OUR JOURNEY HOME
Greetings to our, dear, friends and Prayer Partners,

Kathy and I were temporarily relieved knowing that the Congo / Rwanda border closes at precisely 6:00 PM and we had arrived at about 5:20 PM with Mr. National, our faithful taxi-man, who rescued us at the Kigali International Airport after dark, when the hotel bus had left us stranded. Other taxis wanted $50 to take us to our hotel.

We called him, and he came and took us to our hotel for a lot less! Then he agreed to take us to the government bureaus Saturday, but all the ones we needed were closed until Monday, so we asked him to drive us to Bukavu six hours from Kigali, before we broke out in fever from our Yellow Fever shots, that were starting to affect us ...all we need is to be put in quarantine there, or between borders, since Ebola is all the rage these days!

No-man's land Congo / Rwanda

Thankfully, since there was no car there in Cyangugu, to receive us, Mr. National was willing to drive us with all of our baggage across the bridge separating Rwanda from the DRC, but when we got up the hill to the DRC crossing barrier, it was already padlocked shut as of 5:30!

Basadeke, our resourceful friend, told Kathy to stay in the car out of sight, as she seemed to be running a fever, while I ran to the Public Health and Hygiene metal quonset hut in "No-Man's-Land" just outside the access gate into the DRC to present our "Proof of Vaccination" booklets and submit to the laser temperature check. (Last month they arrested a man there for resisting after they pointed the laser thermometer at his head and he knocked it to the ground and broke it!)

The doctor had already left; and when he returned, I greeted him and introduced myself as

Director of Radio Kahuzi coming back to Bukavu with our International Vaccination booklets in order.  He was on his way home, and did not want to bother me with the formalities, as Immigration was closing!

I ran through the door at the side of the barrier and into the Immigration Office, presented our passports; but the officer said go outside the office and get the two forms to complete! They were not about Ebola, as I thought, but the details he needed to have about each emigrant. Finally they followed his order to stamp our passports for "Entry into the DRC," and I sighed a sigh of relief.

Outside in "No-Man's-Land" Kathy and Basadeke were able to hail a taxi from up the road inside the border crossing to come down just to the closed gate where they transferred all the baggage under the locked barrier and into the other taxi. I asked the immigration official if we needed to present our personal effects and baggage to a custom's officer, and he said "no" we don't need to bother you since it's just your personal effects.

So we were in the taxi and out of there as fast as the ancient vehicle could creep. When we got home everyone celebrated our return with flash lights as the block was pitch black, and the electricity had been off all day long! We even noticed up the block from our house,
the electricity cables were dangling into the ditch beside the road, and light poles in various angles with the ground, and half-a-pole ominously pointing horizontally at the entrance into MONUSCO (UN) HQ!

At 1:00 AM the current still has not been reestablished. Not such a tremendous reception after a month on Safari and six or seven hours on the road back home, but our bed feels good and reassuring even before  we get the dust covers off and clean sheets for the next steps of Faith and Adventure into the Greater Great Lakes of Africa.

Good Night!
Keep Looking UP! 
And Keep On Keeping ON!!

In His Love and Care, 
Richard & Kathy McDonald


 
PS:  We stopped by the new house in Cyangugu, Rwanda to see if it is getting ready for our December 1st entry. Praise the Lord, the owner has put in our new kitchen with window and suspended cabinets and sink, though it has only one basin, but he has truly out done our expectations with the bath tub and deluxe shower head fixtures, off the master bed- room, and the same flexible shower head in the bathroom beside the visitor's bedroom.

He put tile in all the rooms and around the house; plus all three annex rooms in a separate

building behind the house. He seems to have repainted inside and outside with enamel oil based paint, pink in some rooms and outside it is a light brown. I'm not sure why he changed from white to brown? If that's the final coat, we won't be able to call it "The Little White House."! We will have to get used to whatever he has planned and we can hardly wait to begin moving in!

Praise the LORD for His Faithfulness in sending us back with crystal clear eyesight restored, broken teeth repaired, protection from Yellow Fever, and Satan's wiles and schemes, sealed for our Eternal Destination in the Heavenliest Places with our Co-Worker and Co-Heritor --  Christ Jesus, Himself!     
 

                                                           Amen!